The latest rally is called CUBAR. The change in name goes along with the new "politically correct" language theme sweeping the country. https://www.facebook.com/CUBAROdyssey/ The rally has been permanently adopted by the San Diego Yacht Club and the run up to the start was very well done. The seminars, communications, meals and documentation were vastly improved. The roster of boats included over a dozen Nordhavns (3 Nordhavn 50's) including WORKNOT.
Joining us on the trip are Neil and Diane from N40 Salacia. They were on the FUBAR 2013 rally and left their boat in Puerto Vallarta. Having an experienced cruising couple aboard will make the 1000+ mile journey lots of fun and less work for Mary and me. Neil and Diane get a ride to their boat and some additional blue water time. WIN WIN for all. They also travel with a dog, Chewy. Lets hope Keela and Chewy see eye to eye.
Neil and Diane (SALACIA N40)
In ancient Roman mythology, Salacia was the female divinity of the sea, worshiped as the goddess of salt water who presided over the depths of the ocean.[1] She was the wife and queen of Neptune, god of the sea and water.
Chewy
Keela and I picked up a few last minute items in San Diego as we make final preparations for a winter in Mexico. This load is all parts, the food will be loaded in Ensenada with support from the local Costco and Super WalMart.
The CUBAR fleet got a great send off in San Diego. Spirits were high and things looked OK from a weather perspective. That quickly fell apart when the fleet arrived in Ensenada. A late season tropical storm threatened in become a late season hurricane and head up the outside of the Baja peninsula just about the time the CUBAR fleet would be there.
Dinner was great at the Coral this year, They recovered with style from the disaster dinner we had there in 2013.
As soon as we arrived in Ensenada pressure form the tropical storm took its tool on the best laid plans of the CUBAR organizers. Some boats wanted to wait out the storm, some wanted to run 2 nights (60+ hours skipping Turtle Bay) and arrive in Mag bay to wait out the storm. It was difficult to get firm information from the CUBAR leaders as they were reluctant to take a firm stand. Most of the boat captains are by nature an independent bunch and getting a consensus proved to be impossible.
Neil checking the weather with Chewy for backup
I choose to stay behind with a few other boats rather than run before a known storm with only one bailout place over 30 hours from the start of a 60 hour run. Boat problems could delay us until the storm was scheduled to arrive and the storm could speed up its approach. Speeding up is not an option with a displacement boat. With less than a day to spare before the storm was scheduled to reached Mag Bay we would not have headed toward it without the CUBAR fleet commitment. In the end the boats that left made it with time to spare and the storm did not reach hurricane levels.
We followed the next few days and had a fairly bumpy ride.
Along the way we fished with limited success. Caught a Mahi Mahi just big enough for dinner, another for the freezer on the way to Mag Bay. One of the other boats traveling with us loaded the freezer and hooked a couple of Marlin to boot.
The FISH TEAM
Next blog we catch up to the CUBAR fleet in Los Cabos only to perplexed by the weather once more......
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